...Voters in the United States don’t seem to do such a great job of showing up to vote, which is especially true when it’s time for the presidential election. Hard to believe that only a little bit more than half of eligible voters in this country actually participate in voting in the presidential elections. This seems preposterous, especially when you consider that voting plays a major part in our government. I mean, what’s a democracy without the right to vote? But sadly, a plethora of Americans don’t take advantage of that right. In my opinion, at least two causes contribute to this dilemma: people feeling disconnected from a government that seems too impersonal to them, and/or people getting tired of the mudslinging in politics. As government has grown in size and complexity, many people see less need for their participation. “Why should I vote if I can’t affect the political process?” seems to be the view taken by many people who do not vote. They have heard again and again that every vote counts, that their vote counts, but they just don’t believe it. Human beings also have the capability of being just plain lazy. To those who use this as an excuse, it’s too much trouble to register to vote and then actually go to the polls on election day. The second cause of voter apathy in my opinion, is all the mudslinging present in politics today. When one candidate says something about their opponent’s personal life, it makes people wonder what kind of person would make such an...
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...to be on the electoral roll and to vote at federal and state elections for all citizens over eighteen years of age. However, it has not always been the case. At the beginning of the 20th century most men and women were eligible to vote except for indigenous people who were excluded. Following poor voter turnout in a previous election, compulsory voting was introduced in 1924. In 1962 Indigenous people gained the right to vote and it was made compulsory for them in 1984. In 1973 the voting age was changed from twenty-one to eighteen (Skwirk , 2014). The following discussion will argue that the benefits of compulsory voting far outweigh the disadvantages. In our society we have certain obligations like paying taxes, compulsory education and jury duty. Compulsory voting is just another civic duty much less onerous than any of the above. Australia is one of only eleven countries to enforce participation in elections. A 94% voter turnout for the last federal election compared favourably to 65% in the 2010 United Kingdom election and 57% in the 2012 United States presidential election (Padmanabhan, 2015). The argument that compulsory voting is incompatible with democratic government obviously does not apply to Australia that is considered one of the most transparent, representative and least corrupt nations of the world (White, 2013). The whole point of freedom is that everyone has a say and a responsibility to voice their opinion. Fifty per cent or less voter turnout is not a democracy...
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...The importance of voting Name: Course: Instructor: Date: “Your vote is your voice as an American citizen. It's your opportunity to be heard, to hold elected officials accountable for their elections and to have a say in important issues that affect your community. On Election Day, every vote matters”. Anonymous Introduction Election Day is a standout amongst the most energizing days of the year. Our country meets up to choose a leader who will speak to us on the worldwide stage for the following four years. We will choose a leader that will remain for our rights as natives, students, representatives and businesses. We will choose a leader that will ideally stay faithful to their obligations. It is a major choice, and this race denotes an important point in our country's history. As of now, there are two extremely particular ways our nation will look over and it is more essential than any other time in recent memory to make a choice in this race. I wish I could vote, and in the event that you were not anticipating heading off to the surveys this race, let me offer you some assistance with reversing that choice. Every year, numerous students like you turn 18 and cast their first poll on Election Day, satisfying the most fundamental activity in a vote based society. Voting is a basic process that keeps our arrangement of government working. Through races, subjects can choose who speaks to them in government, be it a nearby authority, a state or national...
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...SHOULD THE VOTING AGE BE LOWERED IN THE US? Running head: SHOULD THE VOTING AGE BE LOWERED IN THE US? Should The Voting Age Be Lowered in the US? Name Institution Should The Voting Age Be Lowered In The US? Voting age refers to the minimum age requirement for one to participate in a given general election. According to the American Constitution, the minimum voting age is set to be at the age of eighteen years old (Schmidt et al., 2014). However, there have been several debates aimed at lowering this age to sixteen years old with many American citizens arguing that sixteen years is the stage where people gain much freedom. However, on the contrary, the big question remains unanswered, “Is a sixteen-year-old mature enough to understand the dynamics of politics and democracy?” Lawrence (2014) eludes that lowering the voting age from eighteen years to sixteen will translate to a higher turn out during the voting period. Pragmatically, most young people are vibrant with new ideas, and they are always on the lookout for any leaders that will bring about change unlike the old. He further adds that at this age, the teens are much focused on developments and bettering their future. Also, going by this argument is George, who concludes that lowering the voting age will result in having more leaders who are accountable for their actions (2015). Sometimes people forget that age does not necessarily...
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...Introduction In the show, The West Wing, President Bartlett says that decisions are made by individuals that show up to vote. That quote touches on one aspect of voting which is to choose elected leaders, however voting has many other functions than just choosing leaders. Voting gives a government legitimacy, holds elected officials accountable by placing them under threat of being voted out of office, and influence public policy decisions. Overall, voting is a key piece of the American political system because of the representative nature of the Constitutions and the notion that the people are the rightful masters of the government at all levels of power. Main Body Of all the functions, the connotation around elections is that they are for...
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...Britain is broadly described as a democracy. A nation where the people choose their leaders and hold them accountable for their policies and their conduct in office. The people decide who will represent them in parliament, and who will head the government at the national and local levels. They do so by choosing between competing parties in regular, free and fair elections. Some people say that participation is the key to democracy. If a certain group of society do not vote, or there is apathy in voting turnouts, then there isn’t a fair outcome. For example, 2003 saw Labour leader Tony Blair declare war in Iraq. Despite the media’s portrayal and lack of support for Blair on his decision, he was re-elected as priminister in the 2005 UK general elections. This made a lot of people upset and angry. However, the turnout for that election was low (61.4%) so it could be argued that because Britain is a democracy, the general public are the soul blame for the outcome of the election. On the other hand, people believe that Britain cannot be a democracy if public participation is so low. They believe that to be a real democracy, the whole population must get involved and have a say. So when only over half of those eligible to vote do, there are questions to be asked as to whether the UK could be defined as such. There has been an increase in pressure groups. They can use a variety of different methods to influence law. These groups most often seem more important than political parties...
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...he who did nothing because he could do only little” – Edmond Burke On 10th May 2008, the first phase of elections in the state of Karnataka will begin. Citizens ages 18 and older will have the opportunity to make a decision which may impact their own lives and the lives of generations to come. Equipped with the right to vote, they will determine who will lead the state of Karnataka. Unfortunately there are many reasons why citizens decide not to take part in this decision-making process. Such reasons range from discontent with the candidates and disillusionment with the system to simple apathy. Other challenges to higher participation stems from the painfully long electoral roll registration process and the inconvenience of voting itself. These issues often lead citizens to grow discouraged by the political process and to decide not to participate. Before becoming completely disillusioned by the political process, it is important to discern whether or not we are capitalizing on the information that is currently available to improve the system which governs our quality of life. The truth is that we already have at least some of the tools necessary to vote for change, it is just a matter of understanding and utilizing them. Let us take just two obstacles many citizens frequently complain about that can be addressed by an existing measure –discontent with candidate selection and impersonation of voters at the polling booth. According to Section 49-O of...
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...The Importance of Having a Voice and Getting Out To Vote Professor Butler POLS 2301.04 April 24, 2015 The Importance of Having a Voice and Getting Out To Vote Throughout this semester I’ve learned a great deal of information on various subject areas. I’ve also gained more political knowledge than I had prior to taking this course. Of the many chapters discussed during this course, I found Parties and Elections in Texas (chapter 21), Public Opinion (chapter 6), and Political Participation and Voting (chapter 8) to be the most interesting and informative. Parties and Elections in Texas Political parties play a major role in Texas politics. Approximately 91 percent of Texas voters either identify with or lean toward the Republican or the Democratic Party. Despite all of the complaints about parties, they perform roles that are critical to the operation of our democratic system and to the overall coordination and functioning of our political system. The most important function of parties in Texas is to provide a label under which candidates may run and voter may identify. The party label becomes the standard used in casting a ballot for a candidate. Parties recruit candidates, assist in getting out the vote, and helps to organize the government once officials have been elected. The organization of political parties in Texas can be somewhat complex. Texas does not have a system of party registration for voters. Texas parties conduct primaries to select each party’s...
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...This article was published by the institute of political research in Georgia in 2012. The article is based on fact checking the claim that one of its political analyst, Larry Sabato, made in his research for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The claim that Sabato made was "The higher the education level, the more likely they are to vote Democratic”. Therefore, the institute of political research in Georgia decided to fact check the veracity of such a claim. Since the institution that was doing the research is based on the state of Georgia they decided to compare voters nationwide against Georgia’s voters which are conservative, whites with really strong ties the Republican Party. Sabato in his research used data based on the 2008 exit polls in which the 44% identified as college graduates. One of the findings in Sabato’s research was that among the 44% Obama had an 8%-point advantage over then-republican candidate John McCain. And the gap between these candidates increased even more among those who had a post-graduate degree with Obama leading with 18% advantage. The article also made a reference to a research published by The Pew Research Center in 2012 the finding of this research were that the Lower-income and less educated whites also have shifted substantially toward the Republican Party since 2008." Among whites without a college degree, the GOP now holds a 54 percent to 37 percent advantage among non-college whites, who were split about evenly four years ago. The partisanship...
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...ABSTRACT This report presents a proposal for an Online voting system for Imo State University.”ONLINE VOTING SYSTEM” is a voting technique which contains rules for valid voting and how votes are counted and aggregated to yield a final result. Voting involves counting which means it’s algorithmic in nature. This is an important area for development because the opinions of the students are pivotal to the future of the university, and such a system can increase awareness of important matters. However, it is still questionable whether elections could be conducted online due to the high level of concern over security and even accessibility of internet and other IT infrastructures. The aim of this project is to develop an interactive voting system with which users can participate using internet enabled computers. Online voting would be more convenient, relatively secure and utilize fewer resources. This project will be useful in two ways. It will provide an easier system for the school Student Union Government (S.U.G) than the traditional voting system and it will also help me improve my experience and knowledge of web technologies. HTML, My SQL and Java Programming Language will be used to create the Online Voting System. Project Functions and Goals • User login system and secure administrator login system. • User registration system into the database. • The polling or voting interface proper. • Add/delete polls under administration privilege. • E-mail system may be implemented...
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...still the main determinant of voting behavior. Social classes have always had a ‘usual’ party to vote for. For example, working class usually vote Labour whereas middle class usually vote Conservative. However, social classes seem to vote differently than expected due to different party policies and which will effect personally or affairs they are more concerned about in today’s society. Usually, people may feel they should vote for a certain party due to their social class. Class dealignment then come to light in the 70s after there was a massive decline in people voting according to their social class. The decline has continued. However, people may start to feel they belong to a different class as job opportunities are changing, and there are less people in tertiary jobs, with more people getting and education and professional jobs. People who would have been ‘working class’ may begin to view themselves as lower middle class. This is class dealignment. In the 2010 General Election the Conservatives gained from all groups with the exception of the lowest class DE which stayed Labour. ABC1 (grouped together) had a 39% vote for the Conservatives while Labour had 27%. In the C2 class 37% voted Conservative compared to 29% for Labour, and in the DE group 31% voted Conservative and 40% Labour. In the 40’s it was clear that social class was the main determinant of the way people voted. They would vote according to their natural class. A and B voting Conservative, C1 Cons or Labour...
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...As I started getting closer to the age of 18, I became aware of how many more responsibilities come with it. Turning 18 signifies that you are an adult now, and you have to pay more attention to things you haven’t before, such as bills/money, politics, and most importantly, voting. Voting is a privilege that we were given in our Constitution, which is why I firmly believe that every American should partake in it. We have been learning about the amendments, and how the voting age was changed to 18 during the Vietnam War, so that the men being drafted could have a say in who was in charge of sending them overseas. That’s what voting is, our say in government. I recently voted in the election, and as I was on my way to the poll, I took...
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...Dior Hunter Bailey-Hofmann English 103 17 January 2015 Should Voting Be Mandatory? In the United States, voter turnout during elections has decreased over the last fifteen years. In 2012 the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) compared voter turnout rates, for the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, The BPC states “Despite an increase of over eight million citizens in the eligible population, turnout declined from 131 million voters in 2008 to an estimated 126 million voters in 2012 when all ballots are tallied. Some 93 million eligible citizens did not vote.” Many Americans feel like their vote doesn’t count anyway, mainly citizens who are already disadvantaged. Australian professor of Politics Lisa Hill states in her article What We’ve Seen in Australia With Mandatory Voting that, “Places with mandatory voting also have less wealth inequality, lower levels of political corruption and higher levels of satisfaction with the way democracy is working than voluntary systems.” Critics say that implementing mandatory voting is against the constitution, and what we value the most, freedom. Furthermore, Hill states “ Is being required to vote a violation of autonomy? Sure, but so is mandatory taxation, jury duty and the requirement to educate our children. Yet, these are all good ideas.” Voting should be mandatory because as American citizens we live in a democratic society where everyone should have an opinion. Although, Americans value independence and the free-will to do...
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...Compulsory voting refers to law which require eligible citizens to register and vote in nation elections. Some people believe mandatory voting is the heart of a democracy. Others claim that compulsory voting is unconstitutional. American citizens should not be required to vote in national elections as it goes against many things and is totally wrong. Mandatory voting goes against American traditions of freedom and choice. Compulsory voting in addition, is a violation of one’s democratic rights. In a democracy, every citizen has certain rights that the government and/or state cannot take away from them. A democracy is a government in which the supreme power is held by the people and used by them through representation. When you force citizens...
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...Voting Age Matthew Clayton states in an article that “...Having the right to vote is widely recognized as one of the most important legal rights within a democracy.” (Wing and Clayton 534) With suffrage being an imperative democratic right, the questions of whether there should be a minimum voting age and if so, what age that should be set have quickly become central political issues. In 1971, the United States ratified the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, eliminating the age standard of twenty-one and granting eighteen year olds the right to vote. This was due to the realization of the double standard that eighteen year olds were old enough to be sent to fight for their country, but not old enough to vote for the people who represented it. A similar situation is occurring today, as American citizens under the age of eighteen pay taxes, drive cars, abide by the laws, are affected by the decisions of politicians, etc., but are denied the right to vote. These citizens are perfectly capable of making informed decisions and fulfilling the duties of a registered voter. Being affected by political decisions just as much as someone over the age of eighteen, citizens as young as the age of sixteen should be granted the right to vote. (Wing and Clayton 536) At the youthful age of sixteen, one can accomplish much more than they could at a prior time in their life. In most states, a sixteen year old can become emancipated from their parents, obtain a work permit, hold a job, choose...
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